Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Wendell Stuart & The Downbeaters (197x, Elite ER-1006)

A top-shelf serving of mellow early-70s Bahamaian soul. Wendell Stuart's tenor tremelos are heartworn and intoxicating. I'd say he's reminiscent of an early Johnny Nash. The backbeats are smoothly understated and Solomon Frazer's sonorous lead guitar bounces and strums in a pleasingly Ranglin-esque mode. Plenty of winners here, with a charming bossa-like rendition of Sandie Shaw'sAlways Something There to Remind Me (later a hit for Naked Eyes in 1982)...

A1 Jude
A2 My World Is Empty Without You
A3 The Last Thing On My Mind
A4 Island Woman
A5 Yellow Bird
B1 Always Something There To Remind Me
B2 Island In The Sun
B3 Shame And Scandle In The Family
B4 Delilah
B5 From The Moment To Moment
B6 Mary Ann

9 comments:

AWESOME. I was just looking for this album online a few days ago and nothing. I've got the vinyl headed my way from e-bay, and this will save me the trouble of ripping it myself. Thanks for a great album!

Just heard this playing at a restaurant in Brooklyn and had to have it but the vinyl isn't for sale anywhere online! thanks so much! Wendell Stuart could use a resurgence so thanks for helping along with that.

In the late Seventies and early Eighties we used to go hear Wendell Stuart play each week, usually at "The Front" in the Village in NYC, sometimes at Sweetwater and once at the Cotton Club. At that time it was "Wendell Stuart & Company", which included Wendell, another great singer Godfrey Curtis and someone on keyboard and a drummer. He was an amazing talent and said by some to be the best his country ever produced.

привет

Welcome to Ghostcapital. This blog is an effort to share the love of rare, under-appreciated and oddball music of many kinds. I offer album rips, gratis- mostly from vinyl. Sometimes other stuff, too. If you have an issue with your music being here, then kindly let me know. I strongly encourage everyone to purchase good albums from your favorite independent retailer. Real, brick & mortar record stores are truly where its at. Dig it.